


The Artificer's Guild

by TheAmazingOntos



Series: Change [6]
Category: No Fandom
Genre: Magic Revealed, Mild Language, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:29:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27101239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAmazingOntos/pseuds/TheAmazingOntos
Summary: Some information on one of the factions in the Changed world
Series: Change [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1960861





	The Artificer's Guild

As I walk through the capital, I look around at the changes to the cityscape(to anyone who lives in a decently sized country, feel free to laugh). There are quite a few buildings closed up, and the ones that are open are virtually abandoned. 

There are also a couple of new things scattered around, that I notice as I walk. The first was what looks like a machine shop that has taken over one of the larger buildings. I walk over, curious. 

"What is this place?" I ask one of the people outside. He stops whatever it is he's doing and turn to address me.

"Don't you recognise the Artificers Guild when you see it? Are you an airhead, or have you lived under a rock for the last year?" A young man, probably just a teenager, asks me while sizing me up.

I take a step back, not out of deference to the little shit, but to get closer to a length of steel pipe that leans against the wall behind me. "Yeah, I've been under a rock for the last year. Can you answer my question, or should I find a grown-up?" I respond, forcing myself to maintain eye contact. 

An older man walks over and casually taps the kid on the back of his head. "Stop being an ass. He might be a customer, or even a fellow artificer. Your parents would be ashamed," the old man finishes, shaking his head in mock sorrow. 

As the younger man walks off, he says over his shoulder, "You'd know, Dad."

"Don't mind him, he's at that age where everybody but him is too stupid to live. My name's Raj, and this is the Trinidad branch of the Artificers Guild. So, what can we do for you?" Raj asks, while leading me into the building. I, like a fool, follow him, even though I couldn't make myself trust people who I knew for years.

"I just wanted to know what this place was, but if it's got something to do with artificers, I guess I need to find out how to join," I say, as I am distracted by the strange items and tools stacked neatly on shelves along the walls.

"You're one of us? What'd you test out as?" he asks as we walk into a small office overlooking the inside of the building. 

I hand him the card I received after my S.T.A.R.T. test, forgetting for a moment that it also outs me as an umbramancer to a complete stranger.

"Says here that you tested out at category two. That's a decent level, for what the Guild can teach you here. Now, what kind of techie are you, is the question. Are you Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Cyberpunk or one of those 'everything powered by magic' types?" he asks, handing me back my card and begins rooting around in his desk. 

"Am I what?" I ask. The words sound familiar, but I had to have misheard him.

"Are you Steampunk, you know, gears, levers and giant clock springs all over your builds? Or Dieselpunk, where everything looks like Buck Rogers or 'Fallout' from what my son tells me. Hopefully that means something to you. Lastly, there's Cyberpunk, where everything is smooth chrome and a billion glowing buttons. A few people go completely into one or the other, but mostly people just build and it ends up looking like it belongs in one group more than the others," he says as he slides a few stapled sheets of paper across the desk.

"That's your information sheet, fill it out in block letters. The joining fee is two hundred dollars, and you pay fifty dollars monthly. For this, you get access to the Database, a collection of all the knowledge that artificers in the Guild around the world have accumulated so far. We also find jobs for you if you want, for twenty per cent of the total value. For these jobs, the Guild would provide you with tools and equipment at a discount, but in Trinidad, we're the only place to get a bunch of these things, so 'discount' is relative. Don't worry, though, you'll do fine here," he finishes. 

By this time I've finished filling out the form, but then I remember that I still haven't been to the bank to see if my accounts still exist. "I'll hold onto this for now, think about joining a little bit more," I say, turning to leave. 

"You don't want to join, or you can't? Tell me about it, maybe I can help," Raj says, realizing that something is wrong, but not sure what. 

"I'll get back to you. I promise. I just have something else to see about first," I tell him as I walk out of the office and through the workshop.

I head back out onto the street, and back on my way to join the Empowered Personnel division. At the least, now I know I have an option to government servitude, should I need it.


End file.
